Contact device



19 P. H. J.-BROUE CONTACT DEVICE Filed July 10, 1946 Patented Aug. 29, 1950 7 2,520,526

ITED em FF1E CONTACT DEVICE" Pieterv Hendrik Johannes BronwcrH Eindhoven, Nethenlands assig-nor to Hantford- National B onic and- Trust Company, Hartford; Conn as. trustee I L V V Anplitatibn Jilly 10, 1946; Serial NmfiSZfiGU Innthe Netlienlanfls April 21 1943 SecticmLPhhlicLaw 690", August 8,1946 Patent" expires April 21, 1963 Si-Claims: (Cl. 200-166 I 1' c 2 This invention relates toa contact device, more on the central r-odi Themounting" is thus veryparticularly a relay; whosecontacts are" arranged simple sothat it is notfilecessary to keep-ladders on springsgroupe'd in parallel relationwith one of difierent constructions instore, since these another; I can be mounted directly, according'to require-- In contact devicesof this kind" it is knownto 5; ments; from stored central rods;- crossarmsand drive the springs which" are moved by adriving distance piec'es. member; hereinafter referredto-as-"di-iving'arm'; In one advantageous form of construction of through a ladder-shapedauxiliary member; This a contact device according to" the invention the constitutes a conne cti'o'n between the drivlngi arm central rod is ar-ranged kiet -eentwo springgroups and the movab'ly arranged springs, so" that the positioned side'by'side, both; ofwhich are ac movement of thedriving" armis transmitted tothat-ed by cross arms pushed on the rods. This: thesespr-ing-s Ina knoWn'c'onstruction-the'lad Co ruct fi per s 0 Obtaining a Savihg ii? der consists of two columnsplaced normally to space as compared Witnthat utilizing thel-ladders the longitudinal direction of the springs: Beown hi her- 0. The spac betwe nthe' sprin tween these columns there are fixed cross-arms I5 cr nies is new used for he arr n em n f" the on which li'e the springs' to be moved-i Inorder central rod. 7 tone ahl'etoutil'izethi's ladder'fbr contact devices" In another advantageous construction aocord with d'ifierent' spring" groups; the height of the ing tothe invention the centralrod is of 'metal' cross-arms hasbeen" made adjustable; This which enables us -to obtain a particularly'rigid known constructionhas the dra'wliack of liiei'ng assembly; Inorder" to: avoid' in: this case an less suitable for the actuation of two or more excessive reduction cf'the'l'ea'kagepath', the censoring groups arranged'sideby si'de. Kin this tral aperture inat least one cross arm may he" case the;- same" ladder is used for all-"thespring formed in a ribbed portion surrounding the cengroups, the cross-arms must ice-chosen long; retral rod; so at the p-ointsin the vicinity of. sulting in aweakeningof" the construction and the axis the arm it does not n a pin occupying considerable space. Using a ladder nortine" fore'ach' spring groupalso i'n-vol-ves a great loss In: anothen advantageous construction ofi the 1;". pace; l-t m zy. if l: the adde ust b device: accord-in to thecinventionythe cross arms arranged one Wane: Further; in this con have a fiat 3 midi Eff; Withv their Surfaces Struct'ion it is difilcul'ti to one a suitable com parallel tothosa of. the springs; It: is thus pns.=-- promis'e" Eetween thede'si'red rigidity andthe de- Sible 3 36am? Springs Ufl alispri'ng l fih sired leakage" path; robust constructionreare actuated by a cross arm located between quires the use'ofmetalpartsand these reduce-the W686i w 13 p 6 3" to 0116'? leakage path; another;

The present invention provides a novel": con In another advantageous form of! construction struction of a contact device whereby the said of the device according tothe' invention, the drawbacks are ohviated and other advantages central rod comprises at one-end azwidened pow may be obtained; tion by means ofi which it. engages the driving? According to the'invention, the auxiliary momarm, It'i'sithus: possible to't'ake steps" tozpr'event her consist's ofa centratrodmnvedbythe driving n a: mutual shift of the rod and'thedriving arm; arm whose longitudinal direction is normal to In order that th'einventionvmay'be'morerclearlw that of the springs" and which" ha's pushed on it" understood and readilgrcarriediintoi efiect; it will insulating cross arms tvhi 'h are provided with be described more fully o-y reference to the; acan aperture fitting the" sectionof the rod and company-int: drawing.

Whichare normalto the' longitud'ihal directionion Fig. 1 short-Isa portion of: a. contactdevi'ce acT-- the springs and eachofwhich act-hates at least cording to" the invention.

one'cf the movable springs: This-simple form of Fig. 2 also shows a detail of a contact device construction exhihitsa great ri'gidity'and permits realized according. to the invention;

a compact stru'ctu-reof" contact devices. By the I Fig: 3a illustrates a: top View of: the ladder use-of distance pieces pushed'on the centralrod o1-oss-'-arn1 forming": part of a contact device" acthe mutual distance of" the" cross" armsmay be cordin I'YO- e" invention-- conformed to" the positioning? of the movable Fig; 3b is elevationview ofthe 1'add'ercross-- springs inthe spring groups of the=contact device. arm partly: in section.

To this end; thesedistancepieces andthe crc'ss Fig; 3ci's-apartial elevation view ih section of arms needonly be'pushed inthecorrect' sequence a hub portion of the ladder cross-arm.

In Fig. 1, reference I denotes the driving arm of a contact device which otherwise is not shown. By means of a cross-piece 5 and a ladder-shaped assembly 2 the driving arm actuates the movable springs of the spring groups forming part of the contact device. The ladder assembly '2 consists of a central rod 3 which is of metal and which is secured in the insulating part 4 comprising the cross-piece 5. The latter fits with its projections 6 and 1 into the recesses 8 and 9 of the driving arm I. The cross-piece 5 comprises in addition, the projecting parts l and H which serve to support the lower contact springs of the spring groups and to move these springs if they are movable. The central rod has pushed on it a certain number of cross arms, of which only the cross arm I2 is shown in the figure. The contact springs l3 and I4 shown in dotted lines in the figure are bearing in the manner shown on the cross arm l2 and are moved by the latter. The portion l of cross-arm I2 is thickened and is provided with an aperture embracing the cross-section of the rod 3. In order to be able to position the cross-arm at the correct height use is made of spacer pieces I6, l1 and I8. By pushing-on more cross-arms and spacer pieces the ladder shown in Fig. l is adapted to the actuation of one or more spring groups exhibiting a definite configuration of springs. After that the upper arm is locked in a manner known per se. If desired, use may be made of cross arms extending at only one side of the central aperture. From the figure it can be seen that the cross-arms have a flat shape and are with their surfaces parallel to those of the springs, thus resulting in a saving in space. The lower contact springs of the spring groups on each side of the central rod are bearing on the projecting parts I0 and H which comprise a break- .groove at the place of their attachment to the cross piece 5, so that they may be broken-off, if superfluous.

Fig. 2 shows a completely mounted ladder of a contact device according to the invention. It can be clearly seen that the central supporting rod 20, together with the cross piece 2!, exhibits a T-shape. The rod 20 has pushed on it three cross arms, of which the central one 22 extends only on the right-hand side of the central aperture. In the manner shown these cross arms and the projections of the cross piece 2| cooperate with the movable springs of the spring groups on each side of the supporting rod 20. The two lower pairs of springs of the two spring groups constitute make-contacts, all the adjacent pairs of springs are break-contacts. The construction of the cross piece 21 permits of avoiding an undesirable movement of the lower end of the ladder with respect to the driving arm. However, a movement of the ladder is still possible, with which the top end moves in one of the directions shown in Fig. 1 by the arrows P, so that the ladder turns about the fastening of the cross piece 5 in the driving arm I. Means are provided for avoiding this movement, which, however, do not form a part of the present invention and are, therefore, not illustrated.

In Fig. 3, Fig. 3a is the top view, Fig. 3b a cross-sectional view and Fig. 80 another crosssectional view of a cross arm with which special steps have been taken to increase the leakage path. In this case the springs are located on wedge-shaped arms 30 and 3| and engage these arms along the line 32. The central aperture of the cross arm is formed in a ribbed portion 4 partly surrounding the central rod by means of grooves 33 and 34 provided in it. Consequently, in the vicinity of the portions 35 and 36 located in the axis of the arm, the metal rod passed through the aperture, of which the section is shown only in Fig. 3a, does not engage the insulating material at the edge of the central aperture. It is evident that the leakage path is thus materially increased.

The invention permits the construction of compact contact devices which satisfy high mechanical and electrical requirements.

What I claim is:

1. An electrical contact device, comprising stacked contact spring members, a ladder-like assembly having a central rod, at least one crossarm member on said rod, removable spacing members mounted on said rod for vertically adjusting said cross-arm member, and driving means coupled to a driven member forming part of said ladder-assembly, for moving said crossarm and actuating one of said spring members.

2. An electrical contact device, comprising spring members arranged one above the other, a ladder-like assembly having a central rod, cross-arm members and spacing members pushfitted on said rod adjusting the position of the cross arm members in operative relation to certain of said spring members, and driving means coupled to a driven member forming part of said ladder-assembly, for moving said cross arms and actuating through said cross-arms certain of said spring members.

3. An electrical contact device, comprising spring members stacked in parallel groups, a central metal rod between said groups, spaced cross-arms and spacer members each of insulating material and frictionally mounted on said rod adjusting the position of the cross arm members in operative relation to certain of said spring members, a driving means, and a member on said rod capable of engagement with said driving means for actuating certain of said spring means through said cross-arms.

4. An electrical contact device comprising fiat contact spring members arranged one above the other in two parallel groups, a metal rod centrally arranged between said groups, cross-arm members and spacer members of insulating material push-mounted on said rod one above the other adjusting the position of the cross arm members in operative relation to certain of said spring members, and driving means rockably coupled to said rod, portions of said cross-arms having flat surfaces parallel to the fiat surfaces of said spring members. 7

5. An electrical contact device, comprising contact spring members stacked one above the other in parallel groups, a rod centrally arranged between said groups, cross-arm members and spacer members each formed with a partly ribbed central opening for press-positioning same on said central rod, said cross-arm members being strengthened in the vicinity of said central opening and including surfaces parallel to the surfaces of said spring members, said spacers spacing the cross-arm members on said rod to a position engaging said spring members when the rod is operated by a driven member and driving means coupled to a driven member on said rod for moving said cross-arms and thereby actuating certain of said spring members. 7

6. An electrical contact device, comprising spring members stacked one above the other in parallel relation, a rod arranged between said spring members, cross-arm members adjustably supported on said rod in operative relation to certain of said spring members, movable spacers arranged on said rod for supporting said crossarm members, at least one of said cross-arm members having an arm extending substantially on one side of said rod, and driving means coupled to a driven member on said rod for moving said cross-arms and thereby actuating some of said spring members.

7. An electrical contact device comprising stacked contact spring members, a ladder-like assembly having a central rod formed with a T-shaped cross-piece at the bottom end portion, spaced apart cross-arms pushably mounted on said rod above said portion, driving means rockably coupled to the said rod at the said end portion and through said cross-piece and the said cross-arms to certain of said spring members, said T-shaped cross-piece having projecting upward portions adapted to actuate the lowermost of said spring members.

8. An electrical contact device, comprising pairs of contact spring members stacked one above the other in parallel relation, a metal rod centrally rranged between said pairs of springs, cross-arm members and spacer members each made of insulating material and including a grooved apertured portion for receiving said rod REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,969,926 Eickhoff -1 Aug. 14, 1934 2,077,091 Brander Apr. 13, 1937 2,134,448 Knos Oct. 25, 1938 2,238,458 Waller Apr. 15, 1941 2,282,687 Vigren et al May 12, 1942 2,279,811 Baker Apr. 14, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 645,956 Germany June 5, 1937 

